Charousek was born in Lomeček,
Bohemia,
Austria-Hungary (today part of
Úmonín near Prague, Czech Republic). At the age of five weeks, his family moved to
Debrecen, Hungary, where he became a naturalized Hungarian. They later moved to
Miskolc where, at the age of 16, he learned to play chess. Studying law in Kassa (today
Košice, Slovakia), he is said to have copied out the voluminous
Handbuch des Schachspiels by hand, unable to afford his own copy. Despite the lack of competition in Kassa, he soon became a strong player, and also qualified as a lawyer. In 1893 he entered a
correspondence tournament organised by the Budapest newspaper
Pesti Hírlap, in which he eventually shared first place with another up and coming Hungarian master,
Géza Maróczy. He joined the Budapest chess club, where he frequently played with Maróczy and
Gyula Makovetz, and convincingly defeated
Győző Exner in a match. ==Notable games==